Melissa
Cooperman

Biography

I graduated from the University of Minnesota with a degree in Journalism/Photojournalism studying with Donna Schwartz. I then moved to NYC where I interned as a photographer & Black and White printer at the "Village Voice" weekly newspaper for some great documentary photographers like Sylvia Plachy and under the great photo editor/photographer Meg Handler. I continued working as a freelance photographer for national magazines such as Vibe and George and social conscious newspapers working on portraits and photo essay stories. I also worked with Magnum Photos photographers as an assistant and at the NYC bureau for the documentary agency. 

I attended and completed my Masters in Fine Arts from New York University, Tisch School of the Arts in Film Directing and went on to directing films that screened at international film festivals. 

I've worked as a Multimedia Producer at corporate organizations such as Houghton Harcourt Mifflin/HMH/Heinemann in Portsmouth, NH and the research organization International Food Policy Research Institute/IFPRI.org based in Washington, DC. I'm currently part of an International Humanitarian organization as part of a team as a Multimedia Specialist. I'm fortunate enough to be sent on assignments around the world to document the humanitarian aid work in video and photography with developed ethical storytelling approach.

If you're new to this conversation of "ethical storytelling", it's about making sure that I am telling the stories of the people I work with, with mutual respect and maintaining the dignity of people who's stories I tell. What's important is that I'm creating authentic stories that focus on connecting people of different backgrounds and highlighting the fact that we are one common family irrespective of race, gender, ethnicity, or economic background. So the sensibilities I bring to my travel documentary work, I bring to each moment of my portrait, editorial and wedding assignments.